Freedom House, a Washington-based human rights watchdog has downgraded India from a free to partially free democratic state.

“Rather than serving as a champion of democratic practice and a counterweight to authoritarian influence from countries such as China, Modi and his party are tragically driving India itself toward authoritarianism,” the democracy research institute stated in its annual assessment.

Under the Modi government, India is consistently backsliding from a free democracy to an authoritarianism state.

Political, social and civil rights and liberties have deteriorated in India since Modi became Prime Minister (PM) in 2014 and they further degenerated after the 2019 election, said the report.

Freedom House is a US-funded Non-governmental organisation (NGO) and it is a champion of democracy for eight years.

They have assigned an overall score of 67 to India in their annual freedom in the world report.

There are several factors for the decline in the ranking which including legislation and policies that undermine the political rights of Muslims, increased government pressure on human rights organizations, and rising intimidation of academics and journalists in the country.

“I’m not surprised at all. Since Modi’s election, India has become a more regulated society. One way of judging it is how dissenters and journalists are being treated. In the last couple of years India has become a very dangerous place for journalists, particularly those who criticize Modi or his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” said Dr Talat Wizarat, a noted scholar of International Relations.

According to the Washington-based research institute, India has witnessed a 9-point decline since 2005. This year’s report also raises several questions about the Indian judiciary’s role. Citing the recent acquittal of BJP leaders who were credibly accused of orchestrating the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992, the report said judicial independence had also come under strain since Modi’s re-election.